With the widespread ban on tungsten light bulbs, things that relied on their heat for operation has made them hard to find and expensive. Things like bulbs for lava lamps and glitter lamps.

Although there have been other USB powered glitter lamps, they often used things like magnetically coupled impellers to swirl the glitter around in a very violent manner that didn't really give the proper effect. When I saw this unit in a shop window I realised that although it was clearly using LED illumination, the movement was definitely thermal convection. So I bought one for us to explore.

It is indeed thermal convection. It has two chunky resistors on the PCB creating the heat, and a measly single 5050 RGB LED for the light.

One of the most notable things about this light is that they have tuned the specific gravity of the liquid vial to perfection. The glitter has near neutral buoyancy at room temperature, with a tiny bias to the top over time when undisturbed. But even sunlight or holding the base creates enough thermal turbulence to get the glitter moving.

It's easy to think that plastic is lightweight and easy to float, but in reality, the plastic you see floating in the sea or ponds is being held up by trapped air. The stuff you can't see is at the bottom of the pool.

The plastic used for glitter is surprisingly heavy, and it takes a very high specific gravity to make it float. In some lamps they use a heavy solvent that has the advantage of giving a very fast flow, but also has the annoying trait of making the glitter stick to the side of the bottle.
In most glitter lamps the liquid is a mixture of water and a LOT of calcium nitrate, which has extremely high solubility. The downside of the calcium nitrate is that it corrodes exposed aluminium, so the glitter has to be coated to protect it from turning into clear plastic flakes. With very old glitter lamps the metallisation has often been eroded away.

When making your own calcium nitrate solution you have to get the purest stuff available, as any contaminants will show up as a haze and reduce the sparkle of the lamp. You can filter it though, and if you have lots of patience you can also make a batch and then let it settle for long enough that you can siphon the clear liquid from above the sediment layer.

Getting the perfect balance for the glitter is tricky. It requires a lot of trial and error, and for low heat sources the ratio is literally accurate to a few drips of water. With the high temperature lamps you have to balance it at the operating temperature, as thermal expansion of the liquid can change the density and cause the glitter to settle at the bottom when the bottle is hot.

It's very difficult to tell if glitter is coated or not. Even trying to probe the surface with a meter is no guarantee of resilience, as some protective coatings will dissolve in liquid. I've found that holographic silver glitter has been pretty reliable, and also gives a great multi-colour scintillating effect.

I'm not sure if it's possible to add some sort of corrosion inhibitor to the liquid. But even if you do find the metalization gets eaten off your glitter over time, it's easy enough to decant the solution via a filter to remove the old glitter and try again with another type.

Although glitter lamps are very sparkly to look at, they also create a myriad of shapes and swirls of light around a dark room. They're visually very pleasing things. I've had one running 24/7 for years with delicately balanced fluid and a 3W LED bulb to provide the heat and light.

If you can't find high purity calcium nitrate then you can get useful results with "calcium and nitrogen" fertiliser bought from places like eBay. Although they can't use the name in the listing due to nanny-culture they may show it in the images. A brand name is Calcinit. It may require a bit more time to filter and settle out the impurities. In some locations the use of distilled water may be required.

I guess that the manufacturers make large batches with highly accurate hydrometers and then just add the glitter and let it all stabilise during shipping and warehouse storage.


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#ElectronicsCreators
...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QnP6UTsN8Gg

The reason I specifically call these Chinese lights is because I think they are made for use in China on roadworks and other applications. But they do require a decent amount of sunlight to work, so I'm not sure what their ideal use would be.

They seem to be for mounting on square posts or perhaps square profile traffic cones.

Two possible upgrades are to find a 45mm x 45mm solar panel with a larger area of silicon and upgrading the NiMH cell to a higher capacity one. Noting that the wires are soldered directly to the NiMH cell, which isn't great, but does avoid contact corrosion issues.

You could also change the surprisingly big LEDs to a colour that matched the cover, as they are both using red LEDs. I think using white in the amber version could get a better colour output, as traditional yellow LEDs tend to be notoriously dim.

They're not expensive, which makes them viable as a "fun thing to have".

Here's a link to the AliExpress (not a sponsor) listing that I got these from:-
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005007212660039.html


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You can help support the channel with a dollar or two for coffee, cookies and gadgets, and keep it independent from the quirks of the YouTube algorithm by supporting me on Patreon. This also lets me link to my content on other platforms if YouTube uses the ban-hammer (again!)
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#ElectronicsCreators
...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wEOjn_adQmY

The Chinese seem to call this game Forest Guard for some odd reason, but on the basis that you're smashing animals with a big hammer, it doesn't sound very guard-like.

I got the mouse version just because I thought it was amusingly Mickey Mouse themed. The other options were pigs, frogs and zombies. You need 5 to 8 of the solenoid pop-up modules for a complete game.

I've found the instructions for the controller. The control PCB does have eight solenoid drivers, but you can set it for 5-8 solenoid assemblies. It does use a standard coin validator and can be set to the required number of coin pulses. The game can be set for kid or adult skill level and the number of pop-ups in a game can be set, along with a winning threshold that can either do nothing, award a free game, vend a ticket for each threshold crossed or even vend gashapon (toy capsules).
The only error codes mentioned are empty tickets and capsules!

Here are the settings:-
1 - Number of credit pulses required for a game 0-9.
2 - Number of animal pop-ups per game? 30-99.
3 - Win threshold 20-99. (Has to be lower than option 2)
4 - Prize option - 0=nothing, 1=Capsule by "passed?", 2=Ticket by "passed?", 3=Free play, 4=Ticket by score, 5=Capsule by score.
I think the prize option may offer a fixed prize for reaching a preset score (passed?) or give more prizes for higher scores in steps (score?).
5 - Vended tickets 1-99. Max number of tickets vended per game?
6 - Vended capsules 1-5. Max number of capsules vended per game?
7 - Skill. 0=Child 1=Adult.
8 - Language. 0=Chinese 1=English.
9 - Reset - Setting to 1 exits menu and resets?
10 - Advertising music 0-99. 0=No music, 1=Once per minute? 2=Once every two minutes?
11 - Number of solenoid modules 5-8.
12 - Points per ticket 1-50.
13 - Points per capsule 1-50.

Error codes - 33 flashing - out of tickets, 44 flashing - out of capsules.

The early Whac-a-Mole games used a compressor and pneumatic cylinders to pop up the animals, but the newer games like Namco's Sweet Licks soon switched to a solenoid system.

The pop up characters use a very beefy solenoid that has the wire wound straight onto the plastic housing, which initially gave me concerns about the risk of a failed MOSFET, software bug or crashed microcontroller potentially energising the solenoid continuously and potentially causing heat issues (notably fire). But it turns out there is a thermal fuse built into the solenoid. The thermal fuse that a tech is inevitably going to short out to get a game going again....

The controller requires a high current 24V supply for the solenoids (over 3A per energised solenoid) and 12V and 5V for the logic and control. It may also use the 24/12V PSU output for controlling game lighting too.

The wiring loom on the solenoid assembly is 500mm long (20") and presumably the controller gets mounted in a central position to them all for direct connection.

Here are the AliExpress (not a sponsor) listings for the game components:-
The solenoid/animal assemblies:-
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005008687275048.html
The control system and display:-
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005006081940883.html
The big foam hammer:-
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005008486321950.html


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You can help support the channel with a dollar or two for coffee, cookies and gadgets, and keep it independent from the quirks of the YouTube algorithm by supporting me on Patreon. This also lets me link to my content on other platforms if YouTube uses the ban-hammer (again!)
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#ElectronicsCreators
...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s2m0D61lO1o

Just a little experiment to see what would happen if I removed the end of travel stop from a pop up mouse from an arcade game.
...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QYhx8brGIvs

Having featured a demonstration panel for the LED neon-like strips, I thought it would be good to show a display case used to demonstrate real gas filled neon tubing to help customers choose colours.

This case has three sections of four tubes spliced together, and all three sections (not four as I said in the video) are wired in series and powered from a high voltage electronic transformer.

The first section has the tube filled with pure neon gas with two phosphor coated tubes, a red glass tube and a clear glass tube. The phosphors are mainly for diffusion, although the neon does cause a slight stimulation of the phosphor to tint the light slightly.
The other two sections are based on argon gas with a touch of mercury, and use the emitted UV to stimulate phosphor coated on the inside of the tube.

The yellow glass tube with white phosphor is more stable than yellow phosphors which always seemed to fade quickly.

The case is made from black and clear perspex/acrylic bonded together with solvent, and with screws for removing the back should maintenance be required.

The power supply inside is a high voltage and high frequency electronic power supply.

This is very much a legacy unit, as it is very hard to find a place that makes real neon in the UK now. It was given to me by a sign company I used for all my custom neon tubes.

The surge of popularity of "LED neon" has taken a lot of business away from traditional neon glass benders. And while the new material is massively cheaper due to being low voltage and easily assembled into routed plastic sheets, it will not last as long as a properly made glass neon sign that can last for many decades.

This video was recorded with a different device while travelling - hence the squished audio.


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You can help support the channel with a dollar or two for coffee, cookies and gadgets, and keep it independent from the quirks of the YouTube algorithm by supporting me on Patreon. This also lets me link to my content on other platforms if YouTube uses the ban-hammer (again!)
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#ElectronicsCreators
...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OW8-h5lL_2M

This portable case was used to demonstrate available colours in neon tubing to help customers choose the colours they wanted in their signage.
...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dTfnLJJhlMU

These things are designed to rotate things like "wind spinners" and other reflective ornaments when the sun is shining.

The construction is very simple. A very beefy solar panel - 280mA at 2V in bright sunshine, and a geared motor with a belt drive (probably for quieter operation) and some basic gearing to a fairly rugged brass output shaft.

It came from AliExpress (not a sponsor):-
https://vi.aliexpress.com/item/1005006174293035.html
As always - shop about. The cost should be in the region of £5. It may come up in the bundle deal section after you look at the main listing.

The solar panel seems quite good, and could be useful for replacing an existing damaged one on a classic single NiMh cell solar light. Noting that the 280mA in sunlight is quite high, so risks overcharging small NiMh cells.


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You can help support the channel with a dollar or two for coffee, cookies and gadgets, and keep it independent from the quirks of the YouTube algorithm by supporting me on Patreon. This also lets me link to my content on other platforms if YouTube uses the ban-hammer (again!)
I release content for critique and feedback on Patreon as soon as it has been made.

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#ElectronicsCreators
...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_LVJGaHWdfc

A quick look at a beautifully engineered four cartridge unit with a magnetic retention and indexing system. The huge commercial success of devices like this, and the resultant mass production, has created some very interesting components and systems that probably have applications in other areas.
...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nvX5wA6_gJ0

I'm not sure exactly who these are aimed at. It's such a ludicrous concept of an adapter that lets your phone "walk" large distances without you having to get involved.

Maybe there's a situation where people have their phones monitored for movement remotely?

At least the base has other uses. It was glued together, which was why it took so much effort to open it.

Note that with pendulum kickers like this, the pendulum usually has to be supported on a rod and not a cord to stop it just flipping when the magnetic impulse is applied.

I got this from AliExpress (not a sponsor):-

https://vi.aliexpress.com/item/1005006998195745.html

And only NOW do I find out it was available in PINK.


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You can help support the channel with a dollar or two for coffee, cookies and gadgets, and keep it independent from the quirks of the YouTube algorithm by supporting me on Patreon. This also lets me link to my content on other platforms if YouTube uses the ban-hammer (again!)
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#ElectronicsCreators
...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y5N-feY8WQo

This was sent a while ago by Mike for our exploration. It's a machine start/stop button that automatically releases when the power fails. In this case the button was not latching properly.

See if you can spot the really dumb mistake I made in the video. I prefer to leave the mistakes in, as it represents real life.

One of the most interesting parts of this unit is the shaded pole electromagnet. It has its core split at the end and a loop of copper is put around it to introduce a phase shift that allows the two parts of the core to maintain a magnetic force as it passes the zero crossing point. That is also used to make AC relays quieter.

The main purpose for having a coil latch the on-button is to ensure that in the event of power failure, the switch defaults to off. That avoids the risk of the machine starting unexpectedly while someone is working on it.

I've never really done the "like and subscribe" thing in the past as I thought it was a bit tacky. But I'm going to be testing it in a few videos to see what effect it has. In some I'll mention I'm doing the test, but in others I'll just drop the simple line "If you enjoy my videos, please consider subscribing." Nice and short so it doesn't seem tacky. I'm definitely not going to suggest people enable notifications, as I put out so much content that it would be like spam.


If you enjoy my videos, you can help support the channel with a dollar or two for coffee, cookies and gadgets, and keep it independent from the quirks of the YouTube algorithm by supporting me on Patreon. This also lets me link to my content on other platforms if YouTube uses the ban-hammer (again!)
I release content for critique and feedback on Patreon as soon as it has been made.

https://www.patreon.com/bigclive

Alternatively, for a single contribution you can use PayPal:-
https://www.paypal.com/paypalme/bigclive


#ElectronicsCreators
...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uy2lrpDDNGI